3rd & 4th Generation (1992–1996 & 1997–2001)Toyota Camry Discussion for years: 1992-1996 & 1997-2001
Topics of discussion range from fuel economy, safety, modifications, performance all involving America's favorite family car, the Toyota Camry.
So I've been trying to replace my distributor cap and wires on my 92 5sfe camry, but my camry has the wrong distributor on it. It been on there since I bought it(second hand). The cap meant for the car does not fit and doesnt look like mine. I've been talking to Toyota, Carquest, and Advanced Auto and no one can help/doesnt want to bother actually trying.
The cap looks 95% alike the correct one, but the top is completely round where as the correct one is chamfered on one side. The "correct cap" doesnt seat on the distributor due to this. Getting a new distributor aint happening, too much money....I need to figure out what toyota this is from. The closest match I've found is a JDM camry cap. Could this be? The firing order is the same, all that, just the plastic is a different shape.
Anyway. Idk, I guess this is more of a rant, since I dont know if any of you really can help me. If someone cross checks the parts # on my part they get the part that doesnt fit. Both my cap wires and distributor are made by denso, but denso says to contact toyota...wtf. lol I'm to that insane laughing stage of frustration. If you've made it this far into the post thank you, the part # on my distributor is unreadable(figures), the part number on the cap is 029120-331. My wires say 1609 on the distributor side of the wires. I'm going to go out and buy wires now, since those should fit no matter what.
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If you insist on getting your way often enough, pretty soon you won't have to argue with anyone about it anymore
Last edited by Quicksilver300; 01-14-2008 at 03:38 PM.
A distributor from a junkyard car with low miles might be a cheaper/easier option.
+1!
.....even a new distributor should only run you about $200 to $225 at the most!
I bought a distributor for my former '88 Camry and it even came with a new cap, rotor, and wires!
Installing it is a snap(two easy-to-reach bolts)....the only issue your gonna have is setting the timing, but alot of Auto part stores (Autozone, for one)will let you use a timing light for free, provided you give them your driver's license to hold in the meantime.
ok, I broke down and just decided to modify the one the parts store had. I tried several places and they all gave me the same cap. So since the mounting screws, firing order and all line up, I just trimmed out the angle with my dremel tool. It worked! I changed the plugs wires at the same time. The car runs much much stronger, but I still have my stalling problem, but I'll bring my post on that back up instead of confusing everybody.
Thanks as always for the replies. As unbelievable as it sounds I have to drive about 50 miles to get to any re cycler so used parts unfortunately arent an option, unless I go to my home town.
__________________
If you insist on getting your way often enough, pretty soon you won't have to argue with anyone about it anymore
ok, so my engine isn't a complete freak. I dont know, it ran fine since 2001, driven the car 100k mi since, never had problems till now. I'll look into this. I'm reading up right now on how to test the coil.
__________________
If you insist on getting your way often enough, pretty soon you won't have to argue with anyone about it anymore
Quicksilver, be advised, I recently had a coil go south on me and it tested properly. Sometimes they start to brake down as they get warm so testing them when they are cold they look fine on a meter. That being said, my car would not run even when cold and the coil tested good. I have the luxury of a spare distributor so I could swap parts to trouble shoot. It was the coil. SteveB
yeah I wish I could just "borrow" one. I'll be more than agitated if that's not what it is. Still so far this is the cheapest tune up I've ever had. I had never cleaned a throttle body myself or checked all these sensors, and I never thought I could do computer diagnostics, but it wasnt even hard. I might just see if I can borrow a timing light from advanced auto and do the distributor my self, I've timed my old accord before so ....
I'm just glad we have a two car household. Even then, I just drove the camry all over town and you wouldnt know I had a problem. My biggest problem is in my head, I just get very obsessed about problems. Problem solving is like my thing and I cannot stand failing.
__________________
If you insist on getting your way often enough, pretty soon you won't have to argue with anyone about it anymore
Last edited by Quicksilver300; 01-15-2008 at 01:39 PM.
That distributor cap looks like it's from a 2SE engine (1983-1986) Camry. I'm going by memory here, so I can't be certain. If it was from a 3SFE engine the plug wires are an integral part of the cap and can't be removed. You might have tried taking the old cap to the Toyota dealer and asking them to match it up or ask them to show you a cap from a 2SE engine.
That distributor cap looks like it's from a 2SE engine (1983-1986) Camry. I'm going by memory here, so I can't be certain. If it was from a 3SFE engine the plug wires are an integral part of the cap and can't be removed. You might have tried taking the old cap to the Toyota dealer and asking them to match it up or ask them to show you a cap from a 2SE engine.
Mike
That's usually the case, but when I bought a new Dizzy for my former '88, the cap and wires it came with were detachable from eachother
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If you've made it this far into the post thank you, the part # on my distributor is unreadable(figures), the part number on the cap is 029120-331. My wires say 1609 on the distributor side of the wires. I'm going to go out and buy wires now, since those should fit no matter what.
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